Costco Customers Are Furious Over the Store's Major New Change

Twelve million Costco customers across the country will deal with a big change when shopping there from now on. On Monday, Costco officially ended its 16-year deal with American Express. Customers with a Costco-branded credit card were shipped a Costco Anywhere Visa card to use instead of their TrueEarnings American Express Costco card.

But Business Insider reports that some customers say they have not received their cards in the mail even though they were sent in May, or can't activate their cards once they received them. CNNMoney adds that customers are complaining that they couldn't pay balances that were transferred to their new cards, and are having a hard time getting through to customer service.

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People have aired their frustrations on social media to Costco and to the card's issuer, Citibank. Some people even threatening to head to Sam's Club or BJ's instead.

Hey @AskCiti@Citibank I didn't ask to be your customer, Costco inflicted this @Citi card on me. 90 minutes later no card no help NOTHING.

"Due to the tremendous response, some customers experienced delays reaching customer service. However, call volumes are starting to return to normal. We sincerely apologize to those who have been inconvenienced and are absolutely committed to serving our existing and new cardmembers."

Once the kinks get ironed out, the new Visa card is reportedly a better deal overall. The new card gives 4% cash back on gas purchases, compared to 3% for the American Express, and 3% for restaurants and travel compared to 2% for the AmEx. Costco stores now only accept Visa credit cards for all shoppers.